All That I'm Living For - All That I'm Dying For
by egiaprevolg
Summary: Kakashi never paid much attention to the opposite sex. He had a goal to attain. He was going to redeem the Hatake name and become the best damned shinobi that the village of the Hidden Leaf had ever seen. But he didn't take into account a time traveling sage who just won't seem to leave him alone. Kakashi/OC.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any way, shape or form. All I have is my imagination :p**

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The first time Hatake Kakashi met her, he was standing in front of a poorly marked grave in the middle of November. He had come, like he always had in the brisk mornings before reporting for duty, to visit his father.

He hated the man, the coward who left him all alone. He hated the fact that he didn't realize that his father had been spiraling down a path of no return. He hated that even though he would be leaving his only son to fend for himself, his father had decided to commit seppuku. He hated how he had nightmares every night of a room filled with a strong metallic scent - nightmares of his father laying in a pool of his own blood.

But what Kakashi really hated was how he didn't hate his father at all. He hated that he missed him so terribly. He hated being alone.

He felt rather than saw her, at first. It was a gentle, feminine chakra. It settled over his tense muscles like a wave of comfort. He should have been alarmed at the unfamiliar chakra but for some reason, he simply felt relaxed. More relaxed than he had felt in a year.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" Her voice came from about 45 degrees south east of where he was standing. Fingering the sharp blade in his pocket, he determined that he could easily throw a kunai towards the stranger but the strong push and pull of their chakra warned him it would be a mistake.

Perhaps his last.

It was tempting.

Instead, the nine year old boy turned his head toward the sound but did not fully face her as she continued somberly, "it never gets easier. Watching the people you love fade away. But you learn to live with it and find a reason to go on."

Kakashi turned to face the woman, a sarcastic retort ready on his lips - one of many defenses he kept at the ready. But he was taken aback at first as he took in the long pure white clock she wore over ANBU attire. The cloak was reminiscent to the Hokages' robe but instead bore no marking to such a status. He knew who she was the moment she shifted her pitch black bangs and her lilac, rippled eyes met his.

The Legendary Time Sage.

He had thought, perhaps, that she was only a myth. Few people ever saw the woman - fewer had spoken with her. It was said that she did not reveal herself to just anyone, in fears of altering the timeline.

Kakashi vaguely wondered why she had chosen to appear before him. "You sound like you think I'm going to perform seppuku right here." His voice sounded bitter to his own ears. He wouldn't lie to himself, it had been something he had thought about. After all, what did he have to live for now? A mother long dead, no father to make proud - no family known. Would anyone really miss him?

The woman smiled, but it didn't reach her bright eyes. "No," she whispered, loud enough for him to hear. "Perhaps not this time."

Kakashi brushed aside the comment, despite the fact that it had chilled him to the bone. So he had done it, in some other time and place. Had she seen him die? How many times had she watched him die? In how many different ways?

The woman spoke, startling him out of his inward, ever-darkening, thoughts. "I've seen a lot of death. I've prevented a lot of death. I've stood aside and let death happen..." Her soft voice broke a little, revealing a bare hint of the pain behind the words but she continued, "I try not to interfere with the original timeline. It's hard not to, though, when someone you care about dies. Your death is always hard for me."

"You care about me?" Kakashi said, drolly. Finding it hard to believe.

The time sage smiled softly as she looked down on the prodigy, but her face was contorted in pain. "Very much so."

He didn't ask why. It wasn't permitted. Though he had long believed that her existence was just a rumor, all shinobi of the Hidden Leaf were taught at a young age not to question the futures she saw. They were taught not to ask questions. Especially questions that directly involved them.

He turned back to the grave. He was curious, though. It was his nature - to try and figure out how things worked. His mind whirled at all the possibilities. All of his possible deaths. All of his possible futures.

A gentle hand settled on his shoulder for the briefest second and he shivered as she removed it again.

"I want you to remember what I said." And with that, her chakra vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

It left him with a sour taste in his mouth. What exactly did the woman want him to remember? She hadn't really said much of anything. Besides that it somehow affected her whenever he died.

The boy reach up to his chest, gripping the fabric over his heart.

Why did he suddenly feel even more lonely without her there beside him?

* * *

Hi, I'm very new to the Naruto fandom. Seriously, I binge watched it for months and now I'm reading the manga. I rarely write anymore but this plot bunny just wouldn't leave me alone. I figured if the rinnegan could mess time space dimensions then time travel _could_ _be_ possible. But that's probably me just deciding it could, lol. And yes, my sage was born with the Rinnegan - but that's something for another day. Thank you so much for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

The second time Hatake Kakashi saw the legendary time sage, he was twelve years old.

Kakashi was locking up his apartment, preparing to head to training ground three to meet up with his team. He would be early, but that gave him plenty of time to do some warm ups to prepare for the days training. Besides, it's not as if his team wouldn't be waiting for the ever late Obito, anyways. Maybe he could get Minato-sensei to show him the Rasengan one more time.

There was a barely audible pop behind him and he flinched, a kunai out before he was even fully turned around.

His grey eyes fell on a figure that was staggering forward. She dropped to her knees and caught herself with the hand that wasn't currently clutching her side. Her dirty white robe was steadfastly turning a dark red from the blood seeping out of her side. Kakashi faintly realized he was looking upon the time sage.

Kakashi looked around, wondering if there was some sort of danger or enemy around that he had yet to notice. As far as he could tell, they were alone on the path. A sharp curse fell from the woman's lips and Kakashi felt himself moving forward to the wounded sage, as if his body moved on its own.

When he reach out a hand to steady the woman, she shouted furiously, "Don't fucking touch me!"

He jerked back, as if he was burned by her sharp words and the woman raised her lilac rippled eyes to meet his.

Her face bore a snarl but softened at the sight of him. A pained sigh fell from her lips.

"Gomen nasai, Kakashi-kun."

K-kun? A blush burned under the confines of his mask. That was way too familiar! The young man wondered about that briefly before narrowing his eyes at the woman kneeling at his feet. She was younger than the last time he had seen her. In the cemetery, she had looked to be mid to late twenties. Now she barely looked as old as he was.

Kakashi knew the rules but he wanted to ask her how she had been wounded. He wanted to know what future or past gave her such a grievous wound. What type of battle had she been fighting for her to end up in such a poor state? And why the hell did she end up in front of his apartment?

Instead, he said in a flat voice, "should I retrieve a med-nin for you?"

She let out a gruff laugh before crumpling to the ground. Kakashi felt panicked for a moment before she turned over, laying on her back to look up at the brightening sky. Her eerie eyes met his and she smiled. Kakashi wanted to grimace at the blood filled mouth but he resisted, only cocking his head to the side at her grin.

"I'll be fine, Kakashi-kun." She waved a nonchalant hand weakly. "I heal quickly but I'm just going to continue laying here for a bit, if you don't mind?"

He looked around. It was a little past five in the morning so there wasn't anyone out on the streets just yet and he technically didn't have to be at training until six. He'd have to wait to warm-up but he'd still have plenty of time before Obito arrived to do so. Meeting the young woman's eyes again, he shrugged before dropping down to sit beside her.

Her eyes followed his movement and she protested, "Ano...you don't have to sit with me or anything. I swear I won't bleed out in front of your house!"

Kakashi wondered just how much this woman knew about him. She obviously knew that he lived here, despite not seeing him come out of the apartment. His curiosity burned hotter but he held his tongue on all the questions gushing forth in his mind.

He couldn't help but ask the one that he wanted to know the most, "So, what's your name anyways?" The young man wasn't really sure how to address the time traveler. She was revered in most hidden villages but he had only ever heard her be called the Legendary Time Sage.

Her head lolled toward him, no longer smiling. She stared at him for a long time and while Kakashi began to feel uncomfortable, he refused to look away. She was very pretty, Kakashi grudgingly admitted to himself. Her face was a soft heart shape with a petite nose and full lips. Her eyes were, of course, a pale rippled lilac color and extremely unique but not unattractive.

"Kakashi-kun, I don't have a name anymore."

His brow furrowed in thought, mumbling out loud, "how can you not have a name anymore?"

She shrugged and clicked her tongue a little at the sharp pain the movement started. "I just don't. Besides, names have power, dattebayo!"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at that phrase. He'd only heard Minato-sensei's girlfriend, Kushina, say something like that. Curious.

"You're different than the last time we met." Kakashi stated bluntly. The woman that had came to him before was somber and serious, pain had seemed to fill every aspect of her. This one seemed much too joyful and it bothered him for some reason. Maybe it was because she reminded him a bit of Obito with that type of carefree attitude.

He half-expected some sort of a piss poor excuse to what he had said. Like she had found a small kitten and the sight had lifted her spirits or some such nonsense.

The time sage seemed pensive for a moment, her tanned skin seemed pale and Kakashi wondered if she had lost too much blood.

He was beginning to think that she'd never reply to his statement when she spoke, laughter in her tone,

"When was the last time for you, I wonder? I can't recall when we last met, as we've met hundreds upon thousands of times. When I'm older, when you're older, when I'm younger and you're older and vice versa. Or like now when we are both young. Time becomes a funny thing once you go hopping around in it. I can't remember our first meeting anymore. There's been too many, by this point."

Kakashi was speechless. Just how involved with his life was this troublesome woman?

She looked over and grinned mischievously. "Ah, gomen nasai, Kakashi-kun. I see I've overwhelmed you." A melancholy look came over her face as she sighed, "I've got to go now. I'd stay longer but, ano... time is calling me back. You'd better hurry, if you want to keep your spotless record of attendance to your training."

She let out a snort of laugh that was followed by a faint pop.

It was too silent after she was gone and Kakashi got to his feet and began to walk toward the training grounds. He paused and turned back to the spot where she had laid, a pool of blood being the only proof that she had been there at all.

* * *

So, I have a question. Does everyone know of the existence of the Rinnegan before Pein or Madara? I tried looking it up but couldn't come up with an answer. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Kakashi was walking slowly to the training grounds, hands stuffed deep in the pockets of his pants. His eyes stuck to the ground beneath his feet. He wasn't in any hurry, he would still be early for the days training. He always left with plenty of time to spare.

The boys mind kept whirling back to the time sage who had just been bleeding out in front of his apartment. He knew she had survived just fine, after all, she had appeared before him as an older woman the first time around. He wasn't worried about that. He was more worried about why she had been injured.

What kind of battle was she fighting? Where was she fighting? When did this battle take place and against who? He had so many questions and it was seriously beginning to bother him that he couldn't know the answers to them.

Kakashi kept walking, his head down but his mind full and his thoughts went from the sage to how time travel was even remotely possible.

He didn't understand anything about time travel. The young Hatake was a genius but even he wasn't conceited enough to pretend to understand all the intricacies involved with traveling through time. He wondered how she did it. Was it as easy as activating a jutsu? Or something more complicated.

As he passed the lake nearing the Uchiha compound, he paused to stare out to the outer bank. He watched as leaves on the trees swayed with the gentle wind, how the water rippled gently. But he didn't really see any of that. His mind was already filled with time travel and its possibilities.

They had barely covered the subject in his time at the academy. It wasn't something that his instructors thought of as important. The only thing they really said pertained the sage and how no one was to interfere with her.

But they never taught the children what to do if she kept showing up! How was he supposed to follow the rules when she made his curiosity burn brighter with every word? Every thing she said seemed profound and kept him in awe.

Snapping back to the real world, he realized that the sun was rising higher and he was running out of time before training began. He had been lost in his thoughts for longer than he cared to admit. He turned from the lake and hastened his steps, all thoughts of time travel and the sage fading to a dull roar in the back of his mind.

* * *

Rin and Minato-sensei were already waiting at the training ground when Kakashi arrived at six on the dot.

"Wow, this is a new one." The girl laughed, her eyes twinkling playfully at Kakashi. "Sensei and I made it here before you, Kakashi-kun!"

Kakashi just rolled his eyes and started to stretch. Minato spotted the eye roll and cuffed the back of his students head with a laugh.

"That's right, Kakashi. We were worried that even Obito would make it here before you!" He joked, "I thought that I may have to get Sandaime Hokage to send out an ANBU squad to find you!"

"Maa," Kakashi groaned out and swatted away his teachers hand that was attempting to ruffle his hair. "I still got here on time which is more than Obito-baka can say!"

His teammates only laughed, acknowledging the truth of that statement and continued their warmups, awaiting the last of their team.

A pop came from their side and the trio turned to the sound. Kakashi froze up as he saw the time sage standing there. She was older than she had been this morning, but perhaps a little younger than twenty. His eyes flickered to her previously injured side.

The woman noticed this and winked at him before turning to Minato, who looked just as stunned as Kakashi felt.

"How can we help you?" Minato tried to ask casually. It was obvious that he did not have much experience with the time sage either.

She waved a hand dismissively, "I just happened to be standing here when I traveled. That's why I appeared here. Sorry to interrupt your training, Minato-san."

Kakashi felt sick at her words. If she goes through time and ends up where she had been standing, then that means she was injured right outside of his apartment. But what battle took place in Konoha?

Minato looked somewhat uncomfortable but continued on, "Oh, we haven't begun training yet. We're waiting on.."

"Obito." The sage said and tilted her head toward the back of the group. Turning, they saw Obito heading towards them full tilt. When he finally reach the group, he put his hands on his knees and wheezed out,

"Gomen...sensei... I was helping this little old lady carry her groceries into her house but her back started hurting so I went ahead and put up everything for her!" Obito leaned up, a cheeky grin on his face, "All right! I'm ready for trai... Who's this chick?"

"Obito!" Rin admonished, looking embarrassed at his rudeness. She shot the sage a worried look.

The sage just laughed good-naturedly and greeted, "Konichiwa, Obito-chan."

Minato cleared his throat, "Obito, this is the sage of time."

The boy clearly didn't believe this as he cocked an eyebrow and brought his hands down to his hips.

"I thought that was just a myth."

Minato, always calm and collected, only shrugged at the young Uchiha.

"Would you care if I trained with you all?" The sage asked. Kakashi was surprised and he could feel the anticipation build in his body. He was always looking for new ways to test his skills and she was the legendary time sage. It would no doubt be a memorable experience.

"Y-yes, of course you can!" Minato responded with enthusiasm. "I actually have some reports to catch up on, would you mind training with my students while I finish them up?" The sage nodded and Minato grinned, "we were planning on some taijutsu training today. I was going to spilt them up and have us all spar but if you're here, why not make this a survival exercise?"

Minato held up the two bells and a groan came from his students.

Passing them over to the woman and ignoring his students complaints, Minato flashed over to a nearby tree and settled in to work on his reports and watch the battle. The man wasn't really sure how much of his reports he would actually get done. He was very interested in seeing the sages skill. If the rumors held true about her, that is.

The three students watched the slightly older woman warily as she tied the bells to her waist. Patting them, she smiled at the kids.

"It's been awhile since I've taken the bell test! Feels weird being on the other side."

"You've taken the bell test, time sage sama?" Rin inquired. Kakashi also wanted to know this. Who had she taken the test with before? How old had she been then? He discreetly shook his head. He needed to clear his thoughts of pointless questions. What did he care about this lady and her training? He wanted to see what all she had under the sleeves of that white cloak.

The woman looked thoughtful as she tapped at her chin with a finger. "Well, I can't remember all that clearly. I think it was with Tobirama-sensei. Or maybe..."

"You sparred with the Nidiame Hokage?" Obito interrupted, his voice in awe.

At the same time, Kakashi blurted out, "So, did you get the bells?"

The woman laughed, "I can't remember!"

The three teens all drooped their shoulders.

She pounded a fist in the open palm of her left hand. "Well, let's do this! I know Minato said you all were going to be training your taijutsu today but feel free to use any form you'd like. I'll stick with purely taijutsu, though."

She held up a finger when the trio of teens dropped into a fighting stance. "One sec."

Pushing up her sleeves, Kakashi saw that she had weights on her wrists. How old school, he thought to himself. Hovering her hand over each of the bracers, he saw a glow of faint chakra going into them. She proceeded to lift the bottoms of her pants to do the same to the weights on her legs. Lifting a leg, she gave it a small shake before nodding and letting it fall back to the ground. The loud thud when it hit had all the teens wide eyed.

"There we go!" The sage said cheerfully. "I'm faster than you all so I figure this will help level the playing field."

"Psh!" Obito huffed and stamped a foot on the ground, the sound significantly more quieter than the woman before them. "We could beat you with our hands tied behind our back!"

She leveled a severe stare on Obito, surprising Kakashi. He hadn't ever seen such a look of malice on her face before. The corners of her mouth tilted in a small smirk and she said, "I love it when people underestimate me. Seeing the stupid expression on their faces after they see what I can do is fucking priceless."

Obito looked shocked. Rin looked appalled at the harsh language. Kakashi was just confused at the killing intent radiating from the sage. The feeling dissipated when she smiled serenely and reach for her weapons bag. Kakashi tensed, wondering why the woman was going for weapons when she had just said she would be using pure taijutsu.

When she pulled out a book, the trio of teens just glared, gasped and sputtered in quick succession. It wasn't a book they recognized but then again, they wouldn't have even been able to buy such a pervy book at their age. A little ways away, a suppressed snort of laughter erupted from Minato-sensei.

She casually flicked through the pages, pausing to snicker at different intervals.

After a few long, awkward minutes, she glanced up. "Well, aren't you all going to attack me yet?"

Obito, who finally seemed to regain his speech, screeched in agitation, "why are you reading a book then?"

Her eyes met Kakashi's and she smirked before laughing outright, "Why? Well, because I want to see how it ends?"

She winked at him and Kakashi felt out of the loop. Like there was some kind of inside joke that he just wasn't getting. His brow furrowed and his eyes were questioning but she ignored him and went back to reading.

"Fine!" Obito yelled and attacked. She moved to the side, causing the boy to miss and fly by her. Rin joined in and Kakashi decided that it was time to join the fray.

The team fought efficiently, having gotten used to working together after so many missions but it didn't seem to matter much against this opponent. She moved so fast and countered so effectively that it was nigh impossible to land a hit on her.

It frustrated Kakashi to no end that she simply kept reading as the chuunin and genins continued their relentless assault. They weren't just lowly academy students pretending to play shinobi. They had been on many missions but she was acting as if they were children playing.

Hands flying through signals quickly, Kakashi launched his attack. " _Raiton: Jibashi!_ "

It was a basic lightning release technique, one he didn't put too much chakra behind. It was strong to cut through rock but he controlled the current so it would only knock the sage out if it made contact. The wave of electricity bolted toward her and Kakashi was sure he had her when she turned and looked him dead in the eye, stepping to the side as if that was what she had meant to do all along.

Rin was performing several genjutsu in quick succession but the sage simply formed the release sign with her free hand every single time.

Obito, Kakashi noted with mild displeasure, had actually been making himself useful for once. While the sage was preoccupied with the elemental jutsu and genjutsu being thrust her way, the Uchiha was setting up wire traps and explosive tags behind her.

Not one for being shown up, he began to force her steps back, intent on driving her back towards the other boy. Rin, having noticed his determination, quickly analyzed, realized the plan and began to assist.

The sage smiled and stuck the book back in her bag as the two attacked furiously.

"This is more like it!" She exclaimed as they exchanged blows.

Obito gave them a thumbs up behind her back and disappeared into the nearby brush, probably to rejoin their efforts in driving her back.

Rin was slowing considerably, already exhausted and Kakashi began to pick up speed, not wanting to give the sage any chance to look behind her.

A sharp whistle sounded from behind and Kakashi dove to the left and Rin to the right.

" _Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu_!" Obito chanted as he appeared and released the Uchihas fire attack upon the woman.

When the smoke cleared, she was gone. Kakashi looked around, on high alert and feeling annoyed that the woman had obviously thwarted their plans for the traps and tags by disappearing.

He heard a strangled 'oomph!' from behind and whirled around to see the sage sitting on the back of Obito, casually smiling at the other stunned teens.

"H-how?" Obito gasped out. Kakashi edged closer to hear her reply.

"As an Uchiha, you understand how the Sharingan can predict and counter attacks, yeah?"

Obito gave a small noise of affirmative and she continued, "Let me tell you about my eyes."

The woman gestured to Rin and Kakashi and got off of Obito so he could sit up. Sitting on the ground, she patted the grass and looked expectantly towards Minato.

"You too, Minato-san. You don't have to strain to listen, you can come sit with us."

Minato appeared, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly as he sat down next to Rin.

The sage nodded and tapped the corner of her right eye. "Now I can't really get into very many details but my eyes are called the Rinnegan. But it wasn't always like this. It evolved from the Sharingan."

"So you're an Uchiha, too?" Obito asked excitedly, looking somewhat proud at that fact. Kakashi had to resist rolling his eyes.

But the woman shook her head. "No, I'm not an Uchiha. Anyways, I was born with a permanent Sharingan."

Rin interrupted this time with a gasp, "that's incredibly rare, isn't it?" The girl sent a look to Obito, who nodded.

The sage shrugged and leaned back, palms flat on the grass as she looked up to the sky. "I suppose so but _anyways_ , after some time, my eyes began to change. I unlocked many stages of the Sharingan at a young age and without all the sacrifices that it normally entailed. No one really knew why. Not even my family. Perhaps it is a side effect of my eyes always being active..." She trailed off for a brief moment before clearing her throat and looking back to the group. "I digress... My Sharingan finally transformed into the Rinnegan. So basically -"

Minato interrupted this time and the sage was beginning to look a little exasperated. Kakashi just wanted to hear the damn story.

"So, does that mean, in theory... That any Uchiha could unlock the powers of your eyes?"

She laughed. "No. Not by any natural means at least. Mine happened by pure chance. **Anyways** , my eyes are an advanced form of the Sharingan. That's why I could see what attacks you all were planning. With my eyes, my time traveling and my taijutsu training, I'm pretty much unable to be surprised. Not that it's impossible but it's still pretty hard. I just had to sneak one peek at you, Obito, to know what you were planning and how to evade and counter it."

This was it - Kakashi finally had his chance. He stood up and held out his hand loftily. He would never outwardly admit it but he had a flair for dramatics.

"I'm not too impressed. Your eyes must not be that great." Opening the hand, one bell fell from it and dropped to the forest floor. He was feeling quite smug at his accomplishment. He had nabbed the bell whenever she was gesturing for Minato to come listen to her lecture. It wasn't earned through battle but Kakashi still felt that it was an awesome feat.

Her eyes opened wide and she patted her belt.

Suddenly, she burst into rancorous laughter, falling back to the forest floor.

"Holy shit!" She rasped out and held her sides as she gasped for breath. "I can honestly say you called my bluff there." Holding up her hands, "you got me, Kakashi-kun. In all the timelines, this is a first!"

"Congratulations, Kakashi." Minato said with a grin. He was truly proud of his student. He wasn't really sure if he would have been able to do such a thing. Watching the sage fight had been eye opening and Minato suspected that if she truly had been actively trying to kill, then there would be no stopping her.

Rin gave her congratulations while Obito grumbled at the edge of their circle.

The sage just continued to laugh before sitting up, breathing deep and relaxing into a meditative position.

"On that note, I need to meditate now, if you all don't mind."

Minato-sensei stood first and Kakashi followed suit. Rin and Obito seemed reluctant - even Kakashi wanted to stay and hear more about the mysterious time sage but they all knew an obvious dismissal when they heard one.

Obito pumped a fist in the air as they walked away, "Let's get some barbecue for lunch. I'm starved!"

Minato smiled, "how about some ramen?"

Kakashi couldn't help himself and retorted with no small amount of snark, "You just want to go there because your girlfriend will be there."

He heard an objection from his sensei but his eyes were trailing back to the time sage. Her eyes were closed but a faint smile graced her lips. The more he heard of her, the more he wanted to know.

Kakashi wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel about that.

* * *

A/N: thanks for reading! I hope it's good - I'm not that great at fight scenes :p also thanks to my two reviewers! I really appreciate it. Though my question may have gotten confused. I know that Hagoromo had the Rinnegan, I was just wondering if anyone knew of the existence of the eyes after him? Like when Pein showed up, were they just like oh shit he's got the Rinnegan! XD. Moving on, thanks again! Leave me some reviews! I'd like to know what people think of my sage!


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks so much for reading. You have no idea how much it means to me!

* * *

Kakashi was tired. Not a bone deep kind of exhaustion, just tired. It had been a long day. His team had spent the day doing D-rank missions. Minato-sensei always said it was good to get a few in every couple of days, to help out the village in any way possible. Kakashi didn't think so. Painting fences wasn't something he thought was so helpful. It was just a chore. His feet basically carried him towards home on autopilot. As he was passing the Uchiha lake, he spotted the time sage sitting beside the edge.

She looked deep in thought and Kakashi debated whether or not he should stop or just pass on by. She wasn't someone he wanted to interrupt - obviously she had more important things to think about without him bothering her. Still, he stepped her way, unable to resist. He had been thinking about her and about time travel all day long. After their impromptu training, he found himself drawn towards her even more.

He stood next to a tree, watching as she threw stones across the surface of the lake. The pebbles rippled as they jumped across before sinking. The ripples they caused matched her eyes and he vaguely wondered what ripples she had caused herself. It was beyond him how she managed being in another time. He didn't think he'd handle it so well.

She let out a frustrated sigh and he realized that perhaps she didn't handle it as well as he thought.

Her head tilted towards his hiding spot among the trees and he knew instantly that she knew he was there.

She spoke and her tone was mildly amused though a little strained, "You can come out, Kakashi."

He stepped out and strolled over to settle on the grass beside her. The sun was setting and there was a nice glow settling on the surface of the lake. The pair sat in a comfortable silence, Kakashi watching as the sage continued to throw stones into the water.

She broke the silence first, "Do you ever wonder what the world would be like if there wasn't any ninjutsu? If chakra didn't exist in a form where man would abuse it?"

He thought for awhile. He hadn't ever considered the possibility before. Chakra was apart of life. He could feel the ebb and flow of it throughout his entire body - churning in his blood. It was all around them, in the air as it breezed past. It was present in the water circulating in front of them. He could feel it in the grass under his fingertips.

Kakashi wanted to give the sage a good answer. He always preferred to think out his answers carefully. It was a rare occasion but he found that he had no answer.

"Well... What about you? Do you think the world would be a better place without shinobi around?"

She laughed softly, "always answering a question with a question. Typical Kakashi. To answer your question, no, I don't think the world would be any better off."

"Why?"

"You don't need chakra to forge a blade. To create a weapon. Humans are such fickle things. War is in our nature. Even before chakra manifested in a way that humans could use, they fought. It was just as painful. Just as heartbreaking."

Kakashi sniffed, "why ask me then? It seems you already have an answer in mind."

"Hm, I don't know. Just hoping you had a more optimistic answer for me."

He raised his brows and responded in a bland tone, "Do you realize just who you're talking to?"

"Of course I know, Kakashi-kun!"

"Maaa..." He groaned out and redirected his gaze to the lake. She sure knew how to embarrass him. He wasn't so sure why it flustered him when she added kun to his name. Rin did it all the time and it never bothered him. "So, what's going on?"

"Hmm," she hummed as she turned towards him. He mirrored the movement, until they were sitting face to face. "What do you mean?"

"Somethings obviously bothering you."

"You want to know something about time travel?" She asked abruptly, ignoring what he said completely. Kakashi tried not to seem too eager as he nodded back. He was almost ecstatic, though. The subject had been weighing on him all day long. "Have you delved into shadow clone territory yet?"

He gave a slight nod, half shrug. "I can make a few so far but my chakra levels aren't advanced enough to make a lot."

She smiled but it didn't reach her eyes. "Yeah, it takes more chakra than you'd think. You understand how information can be relayed through clones, right?"

He nodded. "What does this have to do with time travel?"

The sage looked up at the darkening sky and settled back, palms flat on the ground. It was a position she seemed to favor when she began a story, he noticed.

"I am currently in innumerable different points in the timeline and parallel timelines. It's like the clones, sending information back to the source. I'm always getting a constant influx of information about the future and past - about choices to make or not make. What to say in what conversations. It's like I'm living numerous lives all at once."

"Sounds annoying."

"Ha! You have no idea!"

"So, how do you bear it?"

"It's not too hard. The older versions of me have figured out ways to control what information to send me. The really important choices that have the ability to change fate. They always block me from seeing my own path." She leaned forward, smiling toothily at the boy. "Isn't it damn ironic? I can see every future but my own."

"But why would they block you? You'd think that it would be hard to send any information about the future back to you."

"Hmm, I suspect it's so I can learn and grow on my own." Her voice lowered to a conspiratory tone, "to tell you the truth, I haven't even figured out how to control when I travel through time. It just happens! It could happen at any moment. No warning. Sometimes I feel a pull at my chakra but not always."

Kakashi was surprised at this. "So, you could vanish at any moment?"

"Yep. It's a little disorienting when that happens. Usually I have a bit of notice but sometimes I'm not so lucky. I could be thrown into a battlefield at any moment."

"I thought you traveled to wherever you were. How many battles could possibly occur right here?"

She grinned and wagged a finger in front of his face. "Ah, but you're getting into dangerous territory there. I can't tell you about what battles have occurred or will occur at this spot. This village wasn't always here, you know."

"Gomen." He replied, feeling a little chastised at her remark. He hasn't meant to get so close to breaking any rules. That was the last thing he wanted.

He opened his mouth to change the subject when his stomach let out a ferocious growl. His cheeks flushed and he turned away at the sages girlish giggle.

"Hungry, Kakashi-kun?"

"Obviously," he said dryly.

"I have some food at my place. Do you want to have dinner with me?"

Kakashi turned back to the sage, very surprised to hear that. "You have a place to live around here?"

"Well, of course! Am I supposed to sleep outside whenever I'm in this time?"

He shrugged as she stood and offered him a hand. Ignoring it, he stood and brushed away the grass that clung to his clothes. She drew back and bit her lip before gesturing for him to follow.

Kakashi was surprised when he found himself in front of his apartment complex only five doors down from his own. The sage messed with her pockets, searching for her keys apparently. Kakashi inaudibly sighed before stepping toward the door. He gripped the knob and lifted upwards before turning and pushing the door open.

"Oh, that's a new trick."

Kakashi pointed down the set of doorways towards his own apartment. It was probably unnecessary but he said, "my place is right down there. These doors are horrible. Really, the landlord should look into replacing them all. Anyone could get in."

The sage laughed as she brushed past him, turning to walk backward into the open doorway, "I believe 100% of these apartments are housing shinobi. Who would be stupid enough to break into here?"

She was right, to a point. No civilian would dare but other shinobi? During times of war, everyone got a little desperate. Career chunnin and genin found jobs to be either extremely dangerous or very poor paying. There wasn't much of an in-between anymore.

"Come on in, Kakashi-kun." She called out, breaking his thoughts as she headed inside, leaving the door wide open behind her. He stood at the threshold, wondering what he was doing there. He glanced down towards his place once more. It wasn't like him - to have dinner with anyone. Even Minato-sensei had tried to get him to come over to eat with him and Kushina on several occasions but the boy always denied him. He could probably make it to his door before she noticed he was gone. He looked back toward the entrance hall of her apartment, feeling drawn in.

Why was this any different?

The sage had already disappeared inside, no doubt in her actions to suggest that he wouldn't follow. It irked him a bit but he stepped inside, kicking off his sandals at the entrance as he followed the hall inside. It was an exact mirror of his apartment so he found the sage in the kitchen easily, her head already stuck in the fridge.

"Any preferences?" She called out, "I know you hate anything fried or sweet but it seems like they've come pretty recently, so I have a bit of everything in here."

"How did you.." He trailed off before sighing. He really needed to stop being surprised at the things she said. It was beginning to be ridiculous. "Nevermind. Could you make misoshiru?"

She turned to him with a wrinkled nose, "somehow, I was hoping that wouldn't be your favorite again."

"What's wrong with that?" Kakashi shot back, feeling slightly offended by the look on her face.

"It's just... I really hate eating foods that are black. I don't know, it freaks me out."

"Eggplants are dark purple, not black." He deadpanned.

She shuddered and gave a long suffering sigh, "and violets are purple but everyone says they're blue!" Kakashi just gave her an unimpressed look and she laughed, "Fine, fine. Let's have that." She pulled out all of the ingredients and begun the preparations.

He stood in the doorway stiffly before attempting a casual lean against the frame. It was so bizarre, watching the sage flutter around the kitchen. He had never really been to someones for dinner. The closest he had come was eating out with a few of his classmates during his academy days. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do in this situation.

After finishing the preparations, the sage disappeared towards the only door that he knew was a bedroom before reappearing in civilian attire. It was weird, he decided, to see the sage standing before him in shorts and a tank top. She usually was decked out in combat attire the few times he had met her.

At his inquisitive look, the sage smiled as she settled down into a chair at the kitchen table.

"This is about the only place I feel comfortable enough to abandon my gear for more comfortable clothes." He slinked over to the table and sat across from her awkwardly, spine straight and proper. "Geeze, relax! There's no one here but me and you're making me uncomfortable."

He slouched but it was more of a stab at her than any type of relaxation.

Rolling her eyes, she folded her arms on the table and stared.

And stared.

He shifted, glancing to the floor before looking back at her. She seemed amused at his discomfort. Before he even had a chance to say anything she hopped up and went back to the food, humming lightly as she stirred the soup.

"Why'd you invite me here?" He asked and she paused before continuing her stirring.

"You seemed hungry." She retorted, her head turned toward him enough for him to see her smirk. "And lonely."

"I'm not lonely." Kakashi spat out, feeling a bit defensive at the word.

She turned before casually leaning on the stove and leveling him with another stare.

"Sure. Whatever you say. Maybe I'm lonely. It's not like I have an abundance of friends to invite over for dinner."

Kakashi supposed that it would a lonely existence. He didn't know where or what time she actually came from but it was entirely possible that every single person she knew was dead or would be soon. The place where she grew up could be an abandoned wilderness by now or even a sprawling city like Konoha.

They continued on in silence, her cooking and him watching before she was finally finished. When she brought the meal over, she turned from him to stare out the window while she ate.

He was surprised and a little baffled. Most people would be trying to see him eat. He wondered if she would attempt it.

"You don't have to worry so much." She said as she slurped some noodles. She tapped her chopsticks together towards him but didn't turn. "You've always been a very private person, especially when it comes to that mask. I'm used to eating with you while turned away."

Kakashi slowly slide down the mask, reaching for his food. He watched her warily but relaxed when she appeared to only care about eating.

"In all the times you've known me, you haven't seen my face?"

She froze in mid bite before lowering the bowl to the table. "Yeah, I've seen it."

"Then why would you look away now? You already know what is underneath."

"Hmm, I suppose it's out of respect. I want to earn that right to look at you. Not many people have gotten the chance. I'm not going to -"

Then she vanished.

It stilled his movements for a moment and he stared at the empty seat in front of him, at the half-eaten meal. Kakashi wasn't sure if he should leave or not, was it rude to be in someone's house when they weren't there? Or was he allowed to stay since she had invited him in?

Well, he'd hate to leave a dinner she prepared for him unfinished.

"Arigatou." He murmured to the silent room before him. He realized now that it was rude of him not to show gratitude for the meal earlier, while she was still here.

He finished up his meal and stood, carrying the dishes to the sink to clean up. As he washed the plates and put up the ingredients, he casually straightened up. He didn't want to leave a mess, especially since he wasn't sure when the sage would be back.

Back at the front door, he pulled on his sandals before pulling up his mask securely around his face. He looked back down the darkened hall again, wondering when, exactly, that time traveling woman would be back.


End file.
